Students

Our students are girls determined to pursue their education and build a life for themselves and their families. They face a highly patriarchal and culturally conservative community, where women have low social status and few rights. Many of our students are child mothers while others are highly vulnerable for reasons of orphanhood, poverty, and war.

Girls in Northern Uganda face many barriers to education. While completion of primary education is compulsory, girls enter secondary school at a lower rate than boys and the dropout rate for girls increases with each year of enrollment. This is due in part to cultural customs which emphasize the girls’ domestic duties, favors early marriage, and child motherhood.

At PGSS, girls are able to attend secondary school even if they have given birth in an environment conducive to their intellectual development and the well-being of the students and their children.

The Secondary School currently serves 366 students with 209 enrolled in secondary school and 157 receiving vocational training. In addition, 101 babies currently live with their mothers at the school and receive nursery education and daycare services.

Despite the challenges faced educating girls with special needs, PGSS remains one of the top performing schools in Pader District.

The girls are all deeply committed to their studies and are role models for other children in the same circumstance. The girls support each other and share responsibilities which include cleaning, laundry, fetching water and looking after the babies.